Big shots 'jump start' Scott to 1-stroke lead

He holed out twice and hit two long putts on the way to 6-under.
HARRISON, N.Y. (AP) -- Adam Scott left his putter in the bag on a couple of holes, then turned it loose on the soggy Westchester Country Club course.
The 25-year-old Australian holed out twice from off the green and made long birdie putts on the final two holes for a 6-under 65 and a one-stroke lead Thursday after the first round of the Barclays Classic.
"When it's this soft, you just hit it straight at the pin," he said.
Scott holed out from 105 yards for eagle on the par-4 seventh, chipped in from 50 feet on No. 12, made a 23-foot putt on 17 and closed with a 25-footer on the par-5 18th. He rebounded from a bogey on No. 6 with the eagle on the seventh.
"The greens are very soft, so I tried to hit a little wedge to control the spin," Scott said. "It landed into the hill behind the hole and came back down and in. That was a nice way to get the round jump-started."
The rest
David Howell and Billy Andrade were tied for second, Fredrik Jacobson opened with a 67 and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, David Toms, Rocco Mediate, Arron Oberholser, Joey Sindelar and Daisuke Maruyama shot 68s.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson, preparing for the U.S. Open next week at nearby Winged Foot, was five strokes back after a 70.
"I'm happy with the way I hit it," said Mickelson, the winner of the last two major championships. "I made only one bogey, a three-putt on No. 14, the par 3. I felt my ball-striking really coming on. ... With a lot of back pins, they were tough to get to, so I made some safe plays today to take bogey out of play."
Scott tied for fourth last week in the Memorial after finishing third in his previous two PGA Tour starts. He also missed the cut two weeks ago in the European tour's BMW Championship, shooting 73-77.
"If I keep giving myself chances, I'm pretty sure I'm going to win," Scott said. "That's the goal, to get in position for a run on Sunday, and then take it over to the U.S. Open next week."
Because of the wet conditions on the hilly, tree-lined Westchester course, the players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls in the fairways.
"Even though you've got it in your hand, it's the fair way to go just because there's so many things you can't control when you've got stuff all over the ball," Toms said. "Why should you be penalized for being in the fairway?"
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